title: Awareness and uptake of colorectal, breast, cervical and prostate cancer screening tests in Spain.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  We aim to describe levels of awareness and uptake of colorectal, breast, cervical and prostate cancer screening tests and to analyze the association to socio-demographic and health-related variables.
  
  
  METHODS
  Population-based cross-sectional study conducted using a home-based personal interview survey on a nationwide representative sample (n = 7938) of population aged ≥18 years (Oncobarometro Survey). Awareness was assessed by asking participants: Now I am going to mention several medical tests for cancer detection, please tell me if you already know about them or if this is the first time you have heard of them? The tests mentioned were faecal occult blood test (FOBT), mammography, Pap smear and prostate-specific antigen (PSA). Cancer screening uptake was assessed by asking participants whether they had received tests within the previous 2 years.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Awareness rates of 38.55% for FOBT, 95.03% for mammography, 70.84% for Pap smears and 54.72% for PSA were found. Uptake mammography was 74.46%, Pap smears 65.57%, PSA 35.19% and FOBT 9.40%. Factors such as immigration status, lower educational level or income and not suffering from chronic conditions are negative predictors for uptake.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Awareness and uptake results showed acceptable figures for mammography, moderate for Pap smears and unacceptably low for FOBT. Inequalities exist in uptake of cancer screening. It is necessary to develop public health educational programmes, especially for the vulnerable populations, aiming to inform and motivate them to use screening services on a regular basis. Our data suggest that although PSA is not recommended, this opportunistic screening is frequently used in Spain.
authors.affiliation: Preventive Medicine and Public Health Teaching and Research Unit, Department of Health Sciences, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Pilar
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Carrasco-Garrido
authors.forename: Valentın
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Hernandez-Barrera
authors.forename: Ana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lopez de Andres
authors.forename: Isabel
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Jimenez-Trujillo
authors.forename: Carmen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gallardo Pino
authors.forename: Rodrigo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Jimenez-Garcıa
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001364:Awareness; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D002908:Chronic Disease; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D008327:Mammography; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009780:Occult Blood; D017430:Prostate-Specific Antigen / Q000097:blood; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D012307:Risk Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013030:Spain / Q000453:epidemiology; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D014626:Vaginal Smears
chemical_list: D017430:Prostate-Specific Antigen